Obama: ‘We’re just going to blow through’ Obamacare opposition

President Obama speaks about health care reform and the Affordable Care Act in the East Room at the White House on Thursday. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Obama, who gave Republicans a new talking point against Obamacare when he opted to delay the employer mandate, maintained that he will “just blow through” the criticism of the law as his administration continues with implementation.

Obama faulted the GOP for failing to offer an acceptable alternative to Obamacare. “What I’ve heard is just the same old song and dance,” he said during an event at the White House. “We’re just going to blow through that stuff and keep on doing the right thing for the American people.”

The president’s critics include labor unions who fear that Obamacare will break “the backbone” of the middle class.

“Right now, unless you and the Obama Administration enact an equitable fix, the ACA will shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class,” Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, United Food and Commercial Worker President Joseph Hansen, and Unite Here President Donald “D” Taylor wrote in a joint letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., last week.

Obamacare defines a full-time employee as someone working 30 hours per week, for purposes of deciding which workers must receive insurance from their employers.